Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a connection control system, a management server, a connection support method, and a non-transitory computer-readable recording medium encoded with a connection support program. More particularly, the present invention relates to a connection control system which controls communications between a device located outside a firewall and a device located inside the firewall, a management server which supports communications between a device located outside a firewall and a device located inside the firewall, a connection support method which is executed by the management server, and a non-transitory computer-readable recording medium encoded with a connection support program which is executed by the management server.
Description of the Related Art
A multi-function peripheral (hereinafter, referred to as “MFP”) which is connected to a local area network (LAN) may be controlled by using a service provided from a cloud server which is connected to the Internet. For example, an MFP may be caused to print data stored in a cloud server. However, it is often the case that an MFP is connected to a LAN and the LAN is connected to the Internet via a firewall. Therefore, an access from the cloud server to the MFP may be blocked by the firewall.
Further, a user who is not registered in an MFP is not authorized to use the MFP and therefore unable to use the MFP. Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2011-192114 discloses an image forming system wherein a user manager sever manages authorization to use an MFP. However, there is a problem that it is necessary to set authorizations in the user manager sever respectively for each of groups and users. Specifically, in the case where administrators of a plurality of MFPs are different from each other, there may be a problem that a common user manager server can not be provided.